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Portugal Peninsular Wars
The events of the French Revolution, especially the
regicide
of Louis XVI and the Terror, made the rest of Europe's
monarchs
fear for their lives. The Portuguese monarchy, like
others, took
measures to prevent the infiltration of revolutionary
propaganda
into the kingdom. Maria I, who suffered nightmares and
fits of
melancholy, imagined that she was damned. In 1792 she
turned the
reigns of government over to her second son, Joã o, who
was prince
of Brazil. As the situation in France deteriorated,
Portugal
signed treaties of mutual assistance with Britain and
Spain in
1793. In the same year, the Spanish army, reinforced by
6,000
Portuguese troops, attacked France across the Basque
frontier. In
1794 the French launched a major counterattack, which
forced the
combined Spanish-Portuguese army to retreat from French
territory. The French army reached the Ebro River and
threatened
Madrid.
In 1795 Spain made peace at Basel with France without
consulting the Portuguese. Despite having fought with the
Portuguese against France, the Spanish now allied
themselves with
the French and signed a secret treaty at San Idelfonso in
1800.
In 1801 France and Spain sent the Portuguese an ultimatum
threatening to invade Portugal unless it abandoned its
alliance
with Britain, closed its ports to the British and opened
them to
French and Spanish ships, and handed over one-quarter of
its
territory as a guarantee for Spanish territories held by
Britain.
The Portuguese refused to comply, and the Spanish marched
into
the Alentejo in May. After two weeks of fighting, the "War
of the
Oranges," as it is known, was concluded in 1801 at
Badajoz.
According to the terms of the peace treaty, Portugal
agreed to
close its ports to British shipping, granted commercial
concessions to the French, paid an indemnity, and ceded
Olivença
to Spain.
When Napoleon became emperor in 1804, he renewed his
struggle
with Britain. The British declared a naval blockade of
France,
and, in retaliation, Napoleon decreed that all nations of
Europe
should break relations with Britain. Portugal declared
itself
neutral in the struggle. Napoleon ordered the Portuguese
to close
their ports to the British, which they were prepared to do
if
they could without breaking relations with their old ally.
In
October 1807, Napoleon signed a treaty with Spain at
Fontainebleau, according to which France and Spain agreed
to
invade Portugal and partition the country, one-third going
to
France, one-third to Spain, and one-third to Spain's chief
minister, Manuel de Godoy.
On November 17, 1807, an army of French and Spanish
soldiers
under the command of the French general Andoche Junot
entered
Portugal and marched on Lisbon. The British were in no
position
to defend their ally; consequently, the prince regent and
the
royal family left for Brazil. On November 27, Junot's army
took
control of Lisbon.
French occupation eventually sparked rebellions among
the
populace, and provisional juntas were organized in several
cities. The junta in Porto, to which other local juntas
finally
pledged obedience, organized an army and, with British
help, was
able to defeat a strong French force at Lourinhã on
August 21,
1808. After this defeat, the French opened negotiations
with the
Portuguese and signed the Convention of Sintra, which
provided
for the evacuation of Junot's forces. The government was
placed
in the hands of the juntas. In January 1809, the prince
regent
designated a British officer, William Carr Beresford, to
reorganize the Portuguese army, granting him the rank of
marshall
and commander in chief.
In March 1809, French troops under the command of
General
Nicholas Soult invaded Portugal once again. Entering the
country
from Galicia, they occupied Chaves and marched on Porto. A
combined Portuguese-British army, commanded by Sir Arthur
Wellesley, pushed Soult back to Galicia and defeated
another
French army at Tavera in Spain, after which Wellesley was
made
the duke of Wellington.
The expulsion of Soult's forces gave the
Anglo-Portuguese
army time to prepare for Napoleon's third invasion, which
was
ordered in 1810. The third French army under the command
of
General André Masséna entered Portugal at Guarda and
marched to
Viseu. Because Wellington's forces held the main roads,
Masséna
took his army across the Buçaco Mountains and marched on
Coimbra,
which he sacked. Wellington withdrew his army southward,
luring
Masséna into positions he had prepared at Tôrres Vedras.
Finding
the positions impenetrable, Masséna, far from his source
of
supply and short of food, withdrew his forces. Wellington
pursued
Masséna and overtook him at Sabugal where his army was
defeated.
Masséna retreated from Portugal.
Data as of January 1993
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